Aaaand here's another chapter! The first three chapters will be largely about the BAU reacting to everything they're learning, but as I start writing Chapter 4, they will get a chance to use their own skills, so that this isn't just about Ryūsei being badass and the BAU not really contributing.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds or Kamen Rider Fourze.

WORD COUNT: 2318

Tuesday, February 17th, 2015

For the demonstration, Ryūsei took the BAU to an old gym that had been converted into an Interpol safe house years ago. It still had an open area set up for training purposes, and was secure enough that someone not in the know couldn't just walk in on them, so it was the ideal location. Taking his Meteor Driver out of his bag, he motioned for everyone to stand back. He was looking forward to this.

'Meteor On! Ready?' The Driver had more than one BAU member blinking, especially when the music started playing. Tachibana/Emoto had never given him a straight answer when he'd asked about that.

Ryūsei made the usual arm motions. "Henshin!" he yelled, and swiped the lever on his Driver.

Derek Morgan would never admit it out loud, but this young Interpol investigator had just shocked him in a way no Unsub had ever achieved. Telling tales of people turning into monsters with the flip of a switch, of monster cults, and of high school students doing what the police could not and putting them down, now that was one thing. But when the young man – honestly still a kid himself! – was suddenly engulfed in a big ball of blue energy, the likes of which Derek had only seen on TV and in movies, that turned his whole world upside down. Sakuta had been telling the truth: the world was, in fact, even stranger than they'd believed. Which was saying something, considering the nutjobs they chased down for a living.

When the blue energy-ball-thing was gone, Sakuta had also vanished, only to be replaced by a person in a black leather bodysuit decorated with sparkling studs. His right shoulder was covered in bright blue armour, and his head by a helmet of the same colour that had spikes sticking off diagonally up and to his left, resembling a comet's tail, and big, purple eyes. The freaky belt that had started all this was still around his waist.

Beside him, Kate was doing her best impression of a landed fish, while Hotch and Rossi were staring, eyes wide. JJ abruptly sat down on a nearby bench, Reid started muttering something sciencey that sounded way out of Derek's league, and Garcia…

"Oh my God, you're a Kamen Rider!" she squealed, "You guys actually are real!" Derek vaguely remembered Sakuta mentioning them at the beginning of his briefing, and Garcia describing them as some sort of superhero urban legends. At this point, as he watched her fangirl over the guy in sparkly black leather and shiny blue armour, he wondered if he wasn't still asleep in his hotel room, and if this wasn't all some weird dream.

"Yes," Sakuta confirmed, his voice somewhat distorted but still recognisable, "but we'd prefer it if you didn't spread that around. We Kamen Riders mostly prefer to work in secret, without official interference. Most laws and procedures don't work well with dealing with monsters, since the people who wrote them never imagined that such a situation could occur. There are a few Riders who either cooperate with or are members of their local police force, but those are few in number, and I'm the only one working for Interpol."

Hotch, getting over his surprise fairly quickly, frowned. "Are you saying that most Kamen Riders are vigilantes?"

"Not exactly. The Zodiarts aren't the only kind of monsters out there, and any cops who know about them know that normal police can't handle them, but we can. There's sort of an unspoken understanding that we deal with the monsters and the police handle the rest. We all do our best to not get in each other's way." He fiddled with something on his belt, and with another flash of blue light, he was back to normal. "As Kamen Rider Meteor, I'm stronger and faster than any ordinary human. I'm not invincible by any means, but I can definitely take a harder beating."

Garcia was still bouncing in place in excitement. "Did you bring any other Kamen Riders with you?"

"No, but I have my friend Kamen Rider Fourze on standby, along with our shared support crew. If this situation turns out to be bigger than expected, I have the authorisation to call them in for backup. Until then, you just have me."

It took the BAU over an hour to come to grips with the revelations that monsters and superheroes actually existed. By then, they were back at the Boston Field Office, sharing their data with Sakuta. Rossi got the distinct impression that the young agent had thoroughly enjoyed watching them freak out when he revealed his secrets.

"The only witness who's been willing to talk said that he saw a group of men from the Jackknives talking to a pair of men in white," JJ explained, "They exchanged briefcases and got out of there quickly. We don't know who these men are, and the witness didn't get a good look at their faces."

Sakuta frowned, now all business. "Were they dressed in all-white uniforms?" he asked, his face darkening.

"I think so," Kate murmured, looking over the interview transcription, "Yeah, here it is: 'Some dudes all in white, looked like some kinda creepy uniform.' Why, do you know who they might be?" Everyone turned to look at him, eager for a long-awaited break in the case.

He nodded seriously, looking even grimmer. "Foundation X. They're a shadow organisation that deals in the development of advanced technology, the dangerous kind. They financed the original creation of the Zodiarts Switches, among other things. I don't know why I didn't think of them sooner; they've been quiet lately, but…" He went over to his briefcase and started digging through it. "I think I have a file on them on my laptop, but I should still call two of my consultants. They're partners in a private detective agency who came across Foundation X long before Interpol even knew they existed. Hell, most of the intel on this file came directly from them."

"Why would this Foundation come all the way over here to sell Switches?" Morgan asked, trying to work out a motive.

"Well, from what we know of them, they're always looking for more data to keep developing new tech. This could all be just one big experiment for the sake of research. There are plenty of documented fights between a Zodiarts and a Kamen Rider, but not so many featuring two Zodiarts squaring off against each other. As for why they came here, they've probably figured out that we're keeping an eye out for them in Japan. Considering they've been off our radar for two years, who knows what else they've been up to without our knowledge. Foundation X doesn't care who gets hurt, as long as they get their data, so a dozen dead gang members mean nothing to them. They won't stop until we stop them."

Rossi sighed. "Like spree killers, even if they're not technically the ones doing the killing."

"They will use lethal force if someone gets in their way. They have lots of dangerous technology at their disposal." Sakuta had finally extracted his laptop, and was now waiting for it to finish powering up. "I just hope it's nothing like that lunatic Kannagi." At their questioning looks, he explained: "Lem Kannagi was a senior Foundation X agent who had delusions of godhood, went rogue, and tried to take over the world. No, I'm not joking; he actually attempted world domination. Thankfully, he didn't get very far. Kamen Riders Fourze and OOO stopped him, with backup from two other Riders, Double and Nadeshiko. That was just after I started as a Kamen Rider, but I wasn't involved in that. Hadn't made my 'official' debut yet."

"And this is stuff that Kamen Riders normally deal with?" Reid asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well, first it's just routine monsters, but nutjobs like that are usually the ones behind it all, and they tend to have more convoluted plans and are usually tougher to beat. It kind of builds up as the bad guys slowly realise that the new Kamen Rider is actually a threat, which I supposed is good; gives the new guys time to get stronger by the time they have to deal with the biggest threat. Kannagi just didn't bother with the smaller stuff first, which is why it took a total of four Kamen Riders, two of them experienced veterans, to beat him. Ah, here it is." He pulled up a couple files, focusing on a photograph of four people, three men and one woman, all in white suits. "If you see anyone wearing these uniforms, I wouldn't suggest trying to arrest them right away. They usually carry a piece of advanced weaponry on-hand, and the last thing we want is some poor cops finding themselves face-to-face with something deadly that they've never heard of." A few more taps on the keyboard, and he'd sent the files to Garcia's computer and the other agents' PDAs. "Here, you can get yourselves updated while I call my contacts." And he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and moved off to the side.

Ryūsei quickly dialled the Narumi Detective Agency and got Terui Akiko. "Hi, Akiko-chan, can I talk to Philip, please? I've got a case here involving Foundation X and a team of FBI agents anxious for a lead."

The perky young woman told him that he and Hidari Shōtarō were actually in America right now, tracking down Gaia Memory dealers who'd shown up there. Neither felt that this was a coincidence. He got Shōtarō's number, thanked her, and hung up.

"Guess what?" he called, getting the FBI agents' attention. "Apparently my contacts are right here in America, tracking down something similar; their own brand of enemies were also financed by Foundation X, using technology similar to the Zodiarts Switches. Guess what turned up here in the States around the same time as the Switches?"

"Exactly how similar is this other technology?" Reid asked.

"The Gaia Memories also turn people into monsters, called Dopants, though they're operated by actually sticking the device into the user's body, and they tend to have a faster deteriorating effect on their mental state. Foundation X first made themselves known in the aftermath of the collapse of the company that developed them. I'm going to call my friends now." He let them absorb that new information and dialled Shōtarō's number.

"Hello?" The detective answered, sounding out of breath.

"Shōtarō, it's Ryūsei. Is this a bad time?"

"Just chasing a- ow!" There was a clattering sound in the background. "A guy who's been helping a Dopant. Can you call me back in a- GAH!" An even louder crash could be heard, followed by indistinct muttering that, from the tone, sounded a lot like cursing.

"Shōtarō? Are you okay?"

The left half of Double answered eventually, sounding rather aggravated. "I'm fine. Damn creep knocked over a big pile of crates; I lost him. Now what was it you wanted?"

"I've got a case I need help with; Zodiarts have turned up in Boston and Foundation X is involved. I called your office, and Akiko-chan said you were dealing with a similar problem."

"Yeah, I'm in Ohio right now. They must've brought the Gaia Memories and Zodiarts Switches at the same time. You want me to put Philip on the line?"

"Sure. I've already got a few keywords for a lookup."

After a few seconds, Philip could be heard. "Sakuta Ryūsei. It's been a while. What are the keywords?"

"Start with Foundation X. Then Cetus Zodiarts. Then Boston. Last keyword: Third Street Jackknives."

He waited while Philip did his lookup. He didn't have to wait long. "Bingo. The Cetus Zodiarts is Cirino Acqua, aged thirty-five, an enforcer of the Third Street Jackknives street gang."

Ryūsei grinned. "You wouldn't happen to have an address, would you?" Because, knowing Philip, it would be rare for him not to.

"Of course I do." Philip's tone made it sound like he was a mix between amused, confused, and offended at the idea that Ryūsei would think he might not have all the information he needed.

Ryūsei glanced over at the FBI agents, who were all alternating between reading his files on Foundation X and pretending they weren't listening to him. It was just as well that he'd switched to Japanese for his phone calls, even though Shōtarō and Philip were both perfectly fluent in English. Their attempts at hiding their eavesdropping were rather horrible, but he guessed that they really didn't care whether he noticed or not, and most of them had given up when he'd switched to a different language, anyway.

He knew he was a major source of curiosity for them, which wasn't a surprise, given that he'd dropped the 'monsters-and-superheroes-are-real' bomb on them and revealed himself as being part of that bomb. A couple of his Interpol superiors had been twitchy about letting the FBI in on his identity as Meteor, but he (and the less hard-headed among them) had argued that it could hardly be considered classified information with so many civilians already in the know, and that he would have to work with the agents. Privately, he thought they were just sore that there were more civilians who knew about him than there were law enforcement and government agents.

So yeah, I figured if I was going to have one member of the BAU already somewhat aware of Kamen Riders, it was going to be Garcia, hands down. Also, something I forgot to mention in the notes for last chapter: Reid's easy acceptance after reading Kengo's write-up was just a shortcut for me to get the agents to believe Ryūsei so I could get that out of the way.

Preview for next chapter:

"FBI!" Morgan announced, raising his weapon, "Put your hands on your heads and get down on your knees!"

The second guy looked ready to obey, but Acqua scoffed and revealed the small item in his hand: A Zodiarts Switch.

"Don't do it!" Ryūsei yelled, but Acqua hit the button anyway. Everyone else in the alley was pushed back slightly by a powerful gust of wind as the gangbanger was surrounded by a black mist, spots of light forming the Cetus constellation before the Cetus Zodiarts emerged.